iPad trials

Starting a trial with some students using iPads, one is a loan from school the other is a student who has an iPad of his own, I plan to get as much data on progression of learning and attainment to prove the benefit of personalised technology for students rather than the old fashioned 'computer rooms'
The plan is to get students engaging in their learning in ways that currently are not possible on traditional classrooms where access to media and creative tools are limited and have not progressed a great deal from when I was in school
The two students will be closely mentored by myself in an effort to first equip them with some of the basic tools, I.e note taking tools, creative tools, video etc
Hopefully they will then run with the ideas and make their own learning styles helping them progress further without limits

Students blogging as evidence for work

Today I managed to get all of my Year 10 class to sign up to have blogger accounts and explain how they can be used. The project we are looking at is how the body and it's systems are effected by exercise. They will just keep a record after each session on what they have learnt, what findings they complied and what it means to them. All of this is then used as evidence for their coursework.

Hopefully we can highlight the literacy and numeracy links that this has so that students further develop themselves in the process.

Tracking student grades to give fast feedback using Evernote

I have started to put together tracking sheets and feedback sheets on Evernote in order for student progress to easily be tracked and shared. The problem that we faced was getting students to know what they have achieved as soon as their work is marked instead of having to wait for their next lesson.

We aim to get students to use their own time in order to supplement their learning time in school but for this to happen they need to have all the information required to use that time.

Creating notebooks for each student with a feedback sheet and criteria tracking means that students have live updates on their work that they can act upon straight away. It is also in a place where students can share what they have done with their parents.

Blogging in BTEC sport

Started writing a new task today for my BTEC group. Going to get them to use a blog in order to track their progress in the module. As we are looking at fitness testing it would be useful for them to keep a diary of their daily activity and progress. Hopefully filling in the blog will be easier for them to manage (and less chance of losing) than a book.

Simple system to get them signed up to blogger. Generate a google account and then share their blog address with me. Once they start posting they are creating evidence and I can simply give fast feedback on their blog directly.

The real Beaty of this is that they can post their blogs from anywhere so hopefully they will get completed on a daily basis.